Wednesday, December 31, 2014

CBC Health Story Of The Year

Woman eats
Research suggests only about five per cent of people who try to lose weight ultimately succeed, but we cling to their stories as proof that losing weight is possible. (Canadian Obesity Network)

A story about how our biology taunts us by making short-term weight loss fairly easy but permanent weight loss nearly impossible was the top health news story of the year.

The second-most ready story was an analysis of public health inspection reports from national chain restaurants. It revealed a range of health violations, including temperature and food storage issues, food handling and handwashing problems, pest control, cross-contamination and general kitchen cleanliness.

A food-related story rounded out the top three. Researchers said artificial sweeteners may have directly contributed to enhancing the obesity epidemic that the calorie-free sweeteners were intended to fight.

Caught On Cam: Thief's Plan To Blow Up An ATM Machine Backfires!


Chinese Businessman Jailed For 13 Years For Buying And Killing Tigers To Eat

A wealthy Chinese businessman has been jailed for 13 years for hiring poachers to kill three tigers so he could eat their penises and drink their blood. Xi Pat had 'a special hobby of grilling tiger bones, boning tiger paws, storing tiger penis, eating tiger meat and drinking tiger blood alcohol'.

A court heard he ate the genitals and drank the animals' blood before giving the rest of the meat to his business friends and partners.

The court also heard he organised three separate trips last year for 15 people, including himself, to Leizhou in the southern province of Guangdong, where they bought tigers for a 'huge amount of money' that were killed and dismembered as they watched.

One of the group filmed the entire process of a tiger slaughter with his mobile phone. The footage was later obtained by police.

Whereabouts of Canadian listed on Greece ferry unclear

Smoke billows from Italian-flagged Norman Atlantic in the Adriatic Sea. AP
Stephanie LevitzThe Canadian Press
A Canadian is among hundreds of people saved in a dramatic rescue at sea after a fire on board a ferry travelling between Greece and Italy.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs Department says they are aware of a Canadian who was on board the Norman Atlantic when it caught fire Sunday and has now been rescued.

But the government isn’t releasing any further information.

A spokesperson at the Greek embassy in Ottawa said earlier Monday that one Canadian, identified as N. Pejcinovksi, was listed among the 422 passengers and 56 crew on the ship’s manifest but his whereabouts were unknown.

Latest on Sony Hack: Kristen Stewart's Movie Cancelled

Getty Images
If you've been anxiously anticipating Kristen Stewart's upcoming rom-com Big Shoe, you may want to sit down. The flick, in which K-Stew would have starred opposite Jim Sturgess, has been cancelled. Big Shoe was to have been filmed in Cape Town, South Africa, in order to receive $2.7 million in funding from the South African Film Fund; after a series of changes to the organization's bureaucracy, the filmmakers found out they would only receive about $300,000 or so, and decided to pull the plug entirely.
Gossip Cop

Taliban insurgents declares defeat of US, allies


Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan on Monday declared the “defeat” of the United States and its allies in the 13-year-old war, a day after the coalition officially marked the end of its combat mission, Voice of America reports.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force is shifting to a support mission for Afghan army and police more than a decade after an international alliance ousted the Taliban government for sheltering the planners of the September 11, 2001, attacks on American cities.

“ISAF rolled up its flag in an atmosphere of failure and disappointment without having achieved anything substantial or tangible,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement emailed on Monday.

10 Most In-Demand Jobstop In Canada In 2014, According To Workopolis

Cooks were the most in-demand workers in Canada in 2014.
Canada is known for having a resource-based economy, but looking at the country’s most in-demand jobs, you wouldn’t know it.

In fact, Canada looks like a lot like a service economy. Which makes sense, because that's what Canada's economy is really about. Three-quarters of working Canadians are employed in services.

So it makes sense, then, that cooks were the most in-demand workers in Canada in 2014, according to data compiled by job search site Workopolis, followed by sales reps.

The ten most in-demand jobs in online job postings:

  1. Cooks 
  2. Sales Representatives 
  3. Babysitters, Nannies and Parents’ Helpers 
  4. Retail Salespersons and Sales Clerks
  5. Truck Drivers

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow Covers February Issue Of 'Harper's Bazaar'



BRENT FURDYK ET
Gwyneth Paltrow opens up like never before in an interview with Harper's Bazaar editor-in-chief Justine Picardie for the magazine's February issue.

One topic that gets under Gwyneth's skin is when women are nasty and critical towards other women. "Women really need to examine why they’re so vitriolic to other women," she says. "Why they want to twist words, why they want to read about someone else in a negative light and why that feels good to them… But I also know a huge tribe of women who are loving and supportive of other women, in ways that are completely transformative."

She also discusses the ever-changing role that women play in society, and how this changes their self-perception: "I think we are a generation of women who are different in a lot of respects, and some of us want to be ambitious, and for it not to be a dirty word," she says. "We want to be feminine and soft, we want to be maternal, we want to be sexual, we want to be explorers – and we can be a combination of all of these archetypes. You can be powerful, but you can also be vulnerable… [I have] learnt the power of kindness and the importance of non-judgemental ways of looking at others."

Tim Hortons CEO Marc Caira named Canada Business Newsmaker of the Year

Tim Hortons' former chief executive Marc Caira has been named The Canadian Press Business Newsmaker of the Year for 2014. The executive who helped negotiate the sale of the ubiquitous coffee and doughnut chain topped the annual survey of editors and broadcasters. Caira poses for a picture in one of the Tim Hortons' coffee shops in Oakville, Ontario on Monday September 16, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Tim Hortons' former chief executive Marc Caira has been named The Canadian Press Business Newsmaker of the Year for 2014
Debate over the marriage of doughnuts and burgers unfolded in Canadian coffee shops and the corridors of power in Washington, as seemingly everyone had something to say about the pairing of Tim Hortons and Burger King in 2014.
The US$11-billion deal helped Tim Hortons' former chief executive Marc Caira secure the title of The Canadian Press Business Newsmaker of the Year for 2014, in an annual survey of editors and broadcasters.
"Caira (love him or not) did something major and unexpected this year. Now coffee drinkers, and coffee servers, will have to wait for the consequences," said Doug Cudmore, business editor at the Toronto Star.

Photos: AirAsia flight found upside down at the bottom of the sea, passengers found holding hands

Indonesian search officials have now confirmed they have located the fuselage of AirAsia flight 8501 on sonar radar, upside down on the sea floor, not far from where three of the bodies from the doomed AirAsia flight were found holding hands when discovered floating in the Java Sea. Officials from Basarnas, Indonesia's search and rescue agency, say the plane wreckage has been located in 24 to 30 metres of water and one of the seven confirmed recovered bodies was wearing a life jacket.

Lieutenant Airman Tri Wobowo, who was co-piloting Indonesia's C130 Herclues aircraft, was the first to discover debris from the plane and witnessed the tragic scene.

'There were seven to eight people. Three of them held hands,' he told a local newspaper. 

Couple Charged With First Degree Murder After Neglecting Hungry Baby In Car Seat To Die

A couple, Ruby Stephens, 23, and Roy Stephens, 48, of Indiana have been charged with first-degree murder for neglecting their 22-day-old baby to die of hunger while strapped in her car seat at the back of their car while they went in to eat at a Florida restaurant. 

The mother who came out hours later to check the baby, found out she was completely unresponsive and cold to the touch and called 911.

The police later arrested the couple and the mother confessed she had strictly breastfed the baby every two-three hours on their long trip to Florida. 

Heartbreaking Suicide Letter From A Transgender Teen

17 year old transgender teen Leelah (Josh) Alcorn committed suicide on Sunday Dec. 28th by walking in front of a tractor trailer on a highway in Ohio. A few hours later, her suicide note, which she posted on her Tumblr page through scheduled publishing, went up. In the heartbreaking suicide note, she blamed her death on her religious parents who she said refused to acknowledge her gender and forbade her from transitioning into a girl. Read her suicide note below...
If you are reading this, it means that I have committed suicide and obviously failed to delete this post from my queue.
Please don’t be sad, it’s for the better. The life I would’ve lived isn’t worth living in… because I’m transgender. I could go into detail explaining why I feel that way, but this note is probably going to be lengthy enough as it is. 

Stock futures indicate a higher opening for Toronto Stock Market

A man walks past an old Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) sign in Toronto, June 23, 2014. REUTERS/Mark Blinch
A man walks past an old Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) sign in Toronto, June 23, 2014. REUTERS/Mark Blinch
Reuters
Stock futures pointed to a higher opening for Canada's main stock index on Wednesday, the last day of 2014.
March futures on the S&P TSX index were up 0.23 percent at 7.15 a.m. ET.
No major economic events scheduled on Wednesday .
Canada's main stock closed slightly lower on Tuesday, with a fall in financial and energy stocks partly offset by gains in the materials sector as precious metal prices jumped. Dow Jones Industrial Average e-mini futures <1YMc1> were up 0.06 percent at 7.15 a.m. ET, while S&P 500 e-mini futures were up 0.12 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-mini futures were up 0.09 percent.

Nicki Minaj opens up about Her Abortion as a Teen on Rolling Stone


Nicki MinajNicki Minaj has been very open about her personal life and her past in the past few weeks of releasing her new album ‘The Pinkprint’

Covering the latest issue of RollingStone magazine, the rapper opens up again about everything from her breakup to her writing process in a candid, revealing interview.

Read excerpts from her interview below:

On opening up about her breakup: One of my goals was to give people a glimpse into my personal life because it’s something I’ve kept very private. I had to learn to do something as simple as sleep alone. I struggled with ‘Do I express these feelings?’ And I decided there’s no reason for me to hide. I’m a vulnerable woman, and I’m proud of that.

On her abortion & teenage pregnancy: I thought I was going to die. I was a teenager. It was the hardest thing I’d ever gone through. It’d be contradictory if I said I wasn’t pro-choice. I wasn’t ready. I didn’t have anything to offer a child.

Canadian Ebola volunteers to West Africa doubles since call to action

FILE - In this Oct. 16, 2014, file photo, a healthcare worker dons protective gear before entering an Ebola treatment center in Freetown, Sierra Leone. In a letter published online Wednesday, Dec. 24. 2014, by the New England Journal of Medicine, doctors report that the Ebola death rate seems to have fallen even though there are no specific medicines or vaccines to fight the virus. (AP Photo/Michael Duff, File)
In this Oct. 16, 2014, file photo, a healthcare worker dons protective gear before entering an Ebola treatment center in Freetown, Sierra Leone. CP
CBC
The number of Canadians who have volunteered to take part in the government's efforts to stop the deadly spread of Ebola in West Africa has doubled since Health Minister Rona Ambrose put out a call to action last month.
Ambrose called on health-care workers to join the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea during a press conference on Nov. 27.
​​Nick Ayre, a recruitment officer with the Red Cross’s Ebola response team, said 670 Canadians have applied to help contain the deadly virus in West Africa — 350 since the government's call for more volunteers. Of the 350 who have applied, 100 of those are government workers.​
In an interview with CBC News, Ayre did not sugarcoat the risks and challenges faced by volunteers on this mission.

Harvard university to change sexual assault policies after federal investigation

A seal hangs over a building at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts November 16, 2012. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi
A seal hangs over a building at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts November 16, 2012. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi
Harvard University has agreed to make changes to its sexual assault policies and review some cases after an investigation found its law school had handled victim complaints poorly, the U.S. Department of Education said on Tuesday.
The agreement with the Ivy League school is part of the Obama administration's push to curb sexual violence in U.S. colleges and coax schools to get tougher in handling cases.
The Education Department's Office of Civil Rights found that Harvard Law School had failed to appropriately respond to two student complaints of sexual assault.
"In one instance, the Law School took over a year to make its final determination and the complainant was not allowed to participate in this extended appeal process, which ultimately resulted in the reversal of the initial decision to dismiss the accused student and dismissal of the complainant's complaint," the department said in its announcement.

World Oil price falls below $56, heads for biggest annual drop since 2008

A flame shoots out of a chimney at a petro-industrial factory in Kawasaki near Tokyo December 18, 2014. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
A flame shoots out of a chimney at a petro-industrial factory in Kawasaki near Tokyo December 18, 2014. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Oil dropped below $56 a barrel on Wednesday and was heading for its biggest annual decline since 2008, pressured by weakening demand and a supply glut prompted by the U.S. shale boom and OPEC's refusal to cut output.
Global benchmark Brent crude has fallen 49.5 percent in 2014 as demand growth slowed, the United States expanded output and OPEC, dropping its strategy of trimming supply to keep oil around $100 a barrel, chose instead to defend market share.
On Wednesday, prices came under further pressure from a survey showing China's factory sector shrank for the first time in seven months in December - a bearish indication on the strength of oil demand in the world's second-largest consumer.

Missing AirAsia flight couldn’t get OK to change path in stormy weather

Members of Indonesia's Marine Police pray on board a search and rescue ship before kicking off another day of searching. AP
Trisnadi Marjan And Margie Mason
The Associated Press
The pilots sought permission to climb above threatening clouds. Air traffic control couldn’t say yes immediately — there was no room. Six other airliners were crowding the airspace, forcing AirAsia Flight 8501 to remain at a lower altitude.

Minutes later, the jet carrying 162 people was gone from the radar without ever issuing a distress signal. The plane is believed to have crashed into Indonesia’s Java Sea, but broad aerial surveys on Monday turned up no firm evidence of the missing Airbus A320-200.

Searchers spotted two oily patches and floating objects in separate locations, but it was not known any of it was related to the plane that vanished Sunday halfway into what should have been a two-hour hop from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore. The area is a busy shipping lane. Officials saw little reason to believe the flight met anything but a grim fate.

BuzzCanadaLive Year In Review 2014


Hollywood Golden Era Oscar Winner Dies At 104

Actress Luise Rainer, who became the first winner of consecutive Oscars in the 1930s, has died at the age of 104. The German-born star was named best actress in 1936 and 1937 - a feat achieved by only five actors in Academy Awards history to date.

Her achievement made her a force in the golden age of Hollywood cinema, but was also a curse, making her last major film in 1943.

According to her only daughter, she died from pneumonia at her London home.

Scientists Found Out Cause Of Ebola To Be From Infected Birds

Scientists said yesterday that the cause of the deadly Ebola virus that hit West Africa this year was a 2 year old boy, known as patient zero, who played on a tree near a colony of virus-infested bats in his village in Meliandou, Guinea. He was the first person to die but before he died, he infected other family members, who then spread it to others and the virus eventually spread into other areas in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria and Senegal, before moving to the US, UK and Spain. 

This Ebola outbreak is by far the largest ever-recorded outbreak and it has killed about 7,800 people by Dec. 17, 2014, according to WHO

Kanye West is GQ’s Most Stylish Man of the Year 2014

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According to GQ magazine, Kanye West ‘is the people’s champion of swag in the year of our lord Yeezus two thousand and fourteen. Since he burst onto the scene in pink polo shirts and Louis Vuitton backpacks over a decade ago, West has shifted the landscape of men’s fashion with his forward-thinking style. 2014 was no different. From bomber jackets to Chelsea boots to over-sized coats, Kanye helped define what this year meant to men in terms of the things they wear, and we think his place as champion in this tournament was earned.’

To win the GQ most stylish showdown 2014, Kanye West beat out British actor Idris Elba and more

Graphic Photos Of Cyclist Flung Off Bike In A Christmas Eve Ride

These are the horrific facial injuries suffered by a cyclist who was flung off her bike in a shocking hit and run. Fitness instructor, Tracy Taylor landed on her face after she was thrown through the air as a car ploughed into her while she was out on a Christmas Eve bike ride with a friend.

Tracy, 36, is lucky to be alive after escaping with a broken collar bone and cuts and bruises to her face. See the very graphic photos after the cut.

Kathy Griffin Embraces Her New Role Replacing Joan Rivers As Fashion Police


Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Jada Pinkett Covers Shape Magazine January Isuue

The 43 year old mother of two posed in a bikini for the January cover of Shape magazine where she talked about her body, fitness regime and bedroom secrets. 
"When my husband of almost 20 years can’t take his eyes off me? That’s amazing. But the number one reason I go to the gym is because it keeps me sane… I can deal with whatever’s coming at me.'

Watch Hunger Games Cast Campaign For Ebola Funding In West Africa


Mouse Delays Qatar Airways Long-Haul Flight For Six Hours

The Local
A Qatar Airways flight from Madrid to Doha was delayed for more than six hours after a mouse was discovered in the cabin causing alarm among the passengers.

The rogue rodent was spied upon landing, running down the aisle of the plane, causing alarm among passengers.

The entire cabin had to be fumigated causing a delay of over six hours for passengers in Madrid’s Adolfo Suárez Barajas airport, who were waiting to board.

Germany Police Hunt Stolen Pigeon Worth $184,000


Police in Germany are looking for a missing pigeon, and any finder could be in line for a 10,000-euro ($12,250) reward. Duesseldorf police said Tuesday that the 6-year-old male homing pigeon, named AS 969, was stolen at some point on Saturday night from a locked aviary in the city's suburbs.

They say the light gray bird is valued by its owner at 150,000 euros ($184,000) and police suspect the thief or thieves were "connoisseurs" as it was the most valuable in an aviary full of other homing pigeons.

The owner offered a 10,000-euro reward for the bird's recovery.

Father Of Slain Gay Montreal Student Wants To Meet Sons Killer And Ask Why

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Jun Lin
CBC
Diran Lin lost everything when he lost his son, Jun Lin. Now, the only consolation the grieving father will settle for is knowing why Luka Magnotta chose to murder the Concordia University student.

"What he did was very cruel," Diran Lin said on Monday morning in Montreal.

He addressed the media with the help of a translator, nearly one week after Magnotta was handed a guilty verdict for killing the 33-year-old Chinese student in 2012.

He said he still hoped to meet Magnotta in person to ask him why he killed Lin.
"I have nothing to say to him. He’s a beast. He’s worse than a beast. But I just want to ask him why he did this," Diran Lin said.

He commended the Canadian legal system and Judge Guy Cournoyer for finding Magnotta guilty of first-degree murder.

Top 20 top pirated movies of 2014



The Wolf of Wall Street, Martin Scorsese's dark comedy about a stock market swindler, tops a list of the most pirated movies of 2014. The movie, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, was illegally downloaded about 30 million times by torrent users this year, according to piracy tracking company Excipio and quoted in Variety.

Disney's smash hit, Frozen, came in a close second with 29.919 million downloads — despite worldwide sales that exceed $1.2 billion dollars US, according industry website Box Office Mojo.

Here's the 20 top pirated movies of 2014, ranked by downloads:

  1. The Wolf of Wall Street, 30.035 million 
  2. Frozen, 29.919 million 
  3. RoboCop, 29.879 million 
  4. Gravity, 29.357 million
  5. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, 27.627 million 

After all, Justin Bieber didn't buy a $60m private jet

Technically he never said it was his...we all assumed it was after he posted the photos on his instagram page and wrote "New jet for Christmas, and she's beautiful". But according to TMZ, it was merely chartered by Justin for a Christmas flight from Canada to NYC. It was a 22-seater G4 plane which is up for sale. He didn't buy it!

Ukraine cuts electricity power supply to Crimea

Ukraine briefly severed electricity to the Crimean peninsula, nine months after it was annexed by Russia, in a pointed reminder of the territory’s reliance on Ukrainian energy sources, New York Times reports.

The electricity shut-off came as Moscow threatened a greater rift with the West if Ukraine attempted to make good on its intention to join NATO.

The Russian deputy defense minister, Anatoly Antonov condemned the decision on Tuesday by the Ukrainian Parliament to abandon Ukraine’s nonaligned status and declared that NATO was attempting to use Ukraine as a “forward line for confronting Russia.”

Ukraine’s ambitions to join the Western military alliance have been presented as a direct military threat to Russia by President Vladimir Putin and top security officials.

No Canadians among 162 on board missing AirAsia plane

An electronic sign board instructs relatives and next-of-kin to gather at a holding area at the Changi International Airport where AirAsia Flight 8501 was scheduled to land. AP
The Canadian Press
The Foreign Affairs Department says there’s no indication there are any Canadians on board a missing Air Asia flight.

But a spokesperson says Canadian officials are working to confirm that with local authorities.

The AirAsia jet had 162 people on board for a scheduled two-hour flight from western Indonesia to Singapore when it disappeared on Sunday.

Airline officials have said the majority of the people on the plane were Indonesian, but there were also three South Koreans, a Malaysian, a British national and his two-year-old Singaporean daughter, as well as a French captain.

Plunge in crude oil prices named top Canadian Press business story of the year

A person pumps fuel in Toronto after gasoline prices rose overnight on Wednesday, September 12, 2012. From Alberta oilfields to Bay Street boardrooms to the corner gas station, the precipitous drop in the price of crude oil is expected to have far-reaching impacts across the country heading into 2015, making it The Canadian Press Business News Story of the Year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Michelle Siu
A person pumps fuel in Toronto after gasoline prices rose overnight on Wednesday, September 12, 2012.  CP
Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press
From Alberta oilfields to Bay Street boardrooms to the gas station on the corner, the precipitous drop in crude prices is expected to have far-reaching impacts across the country heading into 2015, making it The Canadian Press Business News Story of the Year.
The abrupt turnaround in oil markets was chosen by half of the 50 editors and news directors across the country who participated in the annual survey.
In explaining their pick, many respondents noted the story's ripple effects beyond the oilpatch.
Richard Dettman, business editor at News 1130 in Vancouver, said the halving in crude prices over a six-month span created a "gusher of stories" — the hit to federal and provincial government coffers, the plunging loonie and the benefit to consumers, to name a few.

Snowy owl 'epidemic' sweeps across Ontario

CBC
Snowy owls have flocked to Ontario in huge, rare numbers for the second consecutive year, creating a boon for bird watching and a bane for airport managers.
Last year marked the largest invasion of snowy owls ever recorded in eastern Ontario, and similar numbers are expected this year.
In southern Ontario, Staff at Windsor International Airport expect to trap, band and release 35 snowy owls this winter. That's about the same amount as last year.
At least a dozen snowy owls showed up in the month of December alone, airport manager Phil Roberts said.
"At the very end of December, we've had four to five [banded] in the course of a couple days and still two to three birds that are loafing around," Roberts said.
Once a bird is trapped, the airport keeps it for 24 hours, bands and measures it, then drives it 50 km away to either to Belle River or Holiday Beach.
Snowy owls typically weigh between 3.5 and 5.5 kilograms – or up to 12 pounds.

CDC monitoring tech for possible Ebola exposure

A laboratory technician at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was being monitored Wednesday for possible accidental exposure to the Ebola virus that came during an experiment, officials said.

The person working in a secure laboratory in Atlanta may have come into contact with a small amount of a live virus, CDC spokeswoman Barbara Reynolds said in an emailed statement. The experimental material was on a sealed plate, but wasn’t supposed to be moved into the lab in which the technician was working, Reynolds said. The worker will be monitored for 21 days and the person’s name hasn’t been released.

News of the technician’s possible exposure to Ebola comes days after CDC Director Tom Frieden returned from West Africa, where an outbreak of the virus has killed thousands. Frieden said Monday that response to the outbreak has improved significantly in recent months, but the virus continues to spread in Monrovia, Liberia and Conakry, Guinea.

Additional employees have been notified, but none has required monitoring, Reynolds said. Other staff will be assessed for exposure.

There is no risk to the public and lab scientists notified CDC officials of what happened on Tuesday, Reynolds said. The lab has been decontaminated twice, and the material in question was destroyed before CDC officials became aware of the mistake.

In this Oct. 6, 2014, file photo, licensed clinician Hala Fawal practices drawing blood from a patient using a dummy in Anniston, Ala. Brynn Anderson/AP
 Phillip Lucas The Associated PressThe possible exposure is under internal investigation and has been reported to Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell, Reynolds said. Additional employees have been notified, but none has required monitoring.

Transfers from the lab the experiment material came from have been stopped during the internal review, and the lab the exposure may have happened in is closed, Reynolds said.

The technician’s potential exposure is at least the second to prompt a precautionary response from the agency in six months.

In June, at least 52 workers at the CDC took antibiotics as a precaution because a lab safety problem was thought to have exposed them to anthrax.

Toronto Transit Commission offers to pay funeral of girl killed by its bus

Amaria Diljohn, 14, was killed Dec. 19, 2014 after being struck by a TTC bus at the corner of Finch Ave. and Neilson Rd.
Torstar News Service
The Toronto Transit Commission has offered $20,000 to help pay for the funeral of Amaria Diljohn, the 14-year-old girl killed by one of its buses on Dec. 19.

TTC spokesman Brad Ross confirmed Wednesday that CEO Andy Byford had authorized the offer, which was made privately to the family on Dec. 23.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Ross said. “It clearly was a TTC bus (that struck Diljohn) and we know the family’s having financial troubles paying for the funeral.”

Diljohn’s family had set up a trust account to accept donations to help pay for her funeral.

Yet another as AirAsia plane carrying 153 people overshoots runway in Philippines

Not again! Two days after an AirAsia airliner carrying 163 people plunged into the sea, another one carrying 153 passengers overshot the runway at an airport in the Philippines today December 30th, forcing passengers to disembark the aircraft on emergency slides.

The incident occurred at Kalibo Airport in Aklan province in Philippines according to a journalist Jet Damazo-Santos who was on board and shared the photo above on Twitter. "Engine was shut immediately, we were told to leave bags, deplane asap. Firetruck was waiting,' she said

There have been no word from AirAsia officials about this latest incident but according to Jet, no passenger was injured in this latest mishap.

NovaScotia paramedic fired for sexually assaulting a 71-year-old patient

James Duncan Keats fired as sexual assualt case continues
James Duncan Keats fired as sexual assualt case continues
CBC
James Duncan Keats fired as sexual assault case continues.  The Nova Scotia paramedic accused of sexually assaulting a 71-year-old patient has lost his job.
James Duncan Keats is on trial in Windsor for allegedly assaulting the woman twice: once in her home and another time during an ambulance ride to hospital.
Keats was suspended from his job when the charges were first laid, but a spokeswoman for Emergency Health Services says they have since fired him after details revealed in court show he violated their ethical code of conduct.

Newest Update on missing AirAsia jet: 40 bodies & debris of jet found floating in sea

Indonesian officials say they have found 40 dead bodies, luggage, a plane door, and an emergency slide floating in the water off the coast of Borneo Island. They are all from the AirAsia flight that disappeared two days ago after losing communications with control tower after encountering storm clouds.

Scottish Nurse With Ebola To Arrive At London Hospital

Glasgow Healthcare Worker Diagnosed With Ebola
 Glasgow Healthcare Worker Diagnosed With Ebola
Sky News
A Scottish nurse who has become the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the UK is being transferred to London for specialist medical care, according to Sky sources.
The woman returned to Scotland after a spell working in Sierra Leone and arrived at Glasgow Airport on a British Airways flight at around 11.30pm on Sunday.
The patient - understood to have been volunteering for Save The Children - was admitted to hospital early on Monday morning after feeling unwell and was placed into isolation at 7.50am. She is in a stable condition.

Autopsy revealed LA police officer shot unarmed black man three times

Lavell Ford wears a T-shirt protesting the fatal police shooting of his brother Ezell Ford, who died during an August 11, 2014 confrontation with police in South Los Angeles, at a rally in Los Angeles, California August 15, 2014. Police are investigating the shooting death of an unarmed black man by an officer during an "investigative stop" that led to a struggle, a police spokeswoman said on Wednesday. Police said they were not immediately identifying the deceased man, but a woman who said she was his mother told local broadcaster KTLA his name was Ezell Ford, 25. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CRIME LAW)
Lavell Ford wears a T-shirt protesting the fatal police shooting of his brother Ezell Ford, who died during an August 11, 2014 confrontation with police in South Los Angeles
(Reuters) - An unarmed 25-year-old black man slain by Los Angeles police officers in August suffered three gunshot wounds, including one to his back, a long-awaited autopsy report into the killing showed on Monday.
Police have said two officers shot Ezell Ford, described by a family lawyer as mentally challenged, on Aug. 11 after he struggled with one of them and tried to grab the officer's holstered gun.
Ford's death, which came just days after the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, touched off demonstrations outside police headquarters in Los Angeles.

Update On Ebola Vaccine


Canadian man among those rescued in aftermath of Greece ferry fire

In this image released by the Italian Navy, smoke billows from the Italian-flagged Norman Atlantic that caught fire in the Adriatic Sea, Monday, Dec. 29, 2014. Fighting high winds and stormy seas, helicopter rescue crews on Monday evacuated the last of hundreds of people trapped aboard a Greek ferry that caught fire off Albania. The death toll climbed to eight as survivors told of a frantic rush to escape the flames and pelting rain. The evacuation of the ferry was completed in the early afternoon with the rescue of 427 people, including 56 crew members, said Italy's transport minister, Maurizio Lupi. The original ferry manifest listed 422 passengers and 56 crew members, but Lupi said it was premature to speculate on whether people were still missing. He suggested that there might have been some people who reserved a spot on the ferry but did not board. (AP Photo/Italian Navy, ho)
The Canadian Press - In this image released by the Italian Navy, smoke billows from the Italian-flagged Norman Atlantic that caught fire in the Adriatic Sea, Monday, Dec. 29, 2014
Stephanie Levitz, The Canadian Press
A Canadian is among hundreds of people saved in a dramatic rescue at sea after a fire on board a ferry travelling between Greece and Italy.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs Department says they are aware of a Canadian who was on board the Norman Atlantic when it caught fire Sunday and has now been rescued.

But the government isn't releasing any further information.

A spokesperson at the Greek embassy in Ottawa said earlier Monday that one Canadian, identified as N. Pejcinovksi, was listed among the 422 passengers and 56 crew on the ship's manifest but his whereabouts were unknown.

Egypt And Morocco Ban 'Exodus: Gods And Kings'

EXODUS GODS AND KINGS

Eric Kelsey REUTERS
Egypt has banned Hollywood's big screen biblical epic "Exodus: Gods and Kings," a 20th Century Fox spokesman said on Friday.

The studio owned by Twenty-First Century Fox Inc declined to give a reason for the ban, but films that depict biblical figures have been prohibited before in the Muslim country.

Paramount Pictures' Bible tale "Noah" was banned in several countries in the Middle East this year for its depiction of a prophet, which is forbidden in Islam.

Excerpts From Rapper Lil Wayne Interview With Nylon Magazine

nylonguyslilwayne
According to the rapper, himself as well as Beyoncé and Kanye West are “the last of a dying breed”. In an interview with Nylon magazine (which he lands the cover), he talks about his upcoming album, rapping and much more.

Read excerpts from his interview below:

On rapping: When I first started doing it, you only did it to be the best— not to have a hot song or popularity or for Instagram or Twitter. I’m one of the last of a dying breed…the ones who are only about the music. You have to want to be unforgettable. The only other people who I can think of like that are Kanye West and Beyoncé.

On his process: I’m just a regular street n____ that’s a little smarter than the rest. I rap whatever comes up in my head. Whatever rhymes with the next word and how I’m feeling. I start rapping and we find something within what I just said and make a song out of it.

On weed: I don’t know how it works, but I know that I need weed…extra when I’m creating. It helps in a major way.

UK Mother Still Breastfeeds Daughter At 6 And Won't Stop

Denise Sumpter, 44, has said she won’t stop breastfeeding her six-and-a-half years old daughter until she asks her to stop despite breastfeeding her 18-months old brother. Denise says she thinks it’s one of the reasons Belle doesn’t fall sick often. She also feels confident that she won’t be at risk of breast cancer, and says it has made her eat whatever she wants knowing she won't add weight. Belle is said to be the oldest child in the UK known to be taking her mother’s milk.

ISIS Teen With Bomb Surrenders Himself To Security Because He Doesn't Want To Die

A Syrian boy, Usaid Barho being held by Isis has managed to escape their camp after he volunteered to be a suicide bomber. The boy aged 14, who joined the group because he believed they practiced Islam, was later brainwashed to see Shi’ites as their enemies, and was also told if he wasn’t ready to fight them, the Shi’ites were ready to rape his mother. 

In the camp, he was given an option of becoming a fighter or a suicide bomber, but he turned down being a fighter because he might be killed at a battle front.

Missing AirAsia spotted in sea by search plane

Looks like the AirAsia flight that went missing early yesterday morning may be at the bottom of the sea. Indonesian officials say a search plane hunting for the missing plane have spotted objects in the sea believed to be wreckage from the plane which was carrying 155 passengers and 7 crew members.

An Australian Orion aircraft early this morning detected suspicious objects near Nangka island, about 160 kilometres south-west of Pangkalan Bun, near central Kalimantan, which is about 1,120 kilometres from the location where the plane lost contact while an Indonesian helicopter saw two oily spots in the search area a few hours later, this is according to Indonesian officials.

Experts believe that the aircraft was likely flying too slow to avoid a thunderstorm they encountered and this caused the plane to stall and crash.

Modern Family Actress Sofia Vergara is Engaged to Joe Manganiello

                2014 AFI FEST - "Sophia Loren Tribute"
The internet exploded with excitement a few months back when it was revealed that Modern Family actress Sofia Vergara and Magic Mike actor Joe Manganiello are a couple.

Now more exciting news. The stars are engaged. Multiple sources including People Magazine, E! News and NY Post’s Page Six report.

According to reports, Joe, 38, popped the question to Sofia, 42, on Christmas Day with a gorgeous diamond ring.

Six months after they began dating, hot actress Sofia Vergara, 42, and equally hot actor Joe Manganiello, 38, are engaged. The mother of one showed off her large diamond engagement ring while on vacation in Hawaii with her beau this week.

Joe reportedly popped the question on Christmas day. Sofia ended her engagement to ex Nick Loeb in May and immediately began dating Joe